


Pearl's Christmas Present

by Kirrithian



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Avalanche, Christmas, Christmas With Family, Christmas present, Gen, Rescue, Snow, Steven is so thoughtful, mild danger, protective Pearl, snowstorm, soft, yeet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-25 04:42:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21630337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kirrithian/pseuds/Kirrithian
Summary: A thoughtful Christmas present brings everyone back together when Steven, Greg and Pearl find themselves caught in a snowstorm.Christmas after Season 3.
Kudos: 28





	Pearl's Christmas Present

**Author's Note:**

> Set at kinda a middle-ish Christmas. Y'know *handwaves*

Steven pressed the present into Pearl's hands, and she felt the package in surprise. "Oh, for me?" It felt soft and squishy, yet it looked too small to be one of Greg's old jumpers (again). She remembered to put on a smile for Steven as she opened it up, revealing a semicircular dark blue piece of clothing. She held it up.

"It's a beanie!" Steven explained.

"A whaa?"

"A hat." Steven clambered over and took it from her. "You wear it like this."

"Oh!" She let him put it on her, smiling at his enthusiasm, pretending for a moment that she hadn't spent years trying to get him to wear his own.

"We use them to keep our heads warm in winter. Look, I've got one too!" He pulled his on, and Pearl had a sneaking suspicion she was half a second away from being called 'Beanie buddies'.

She pushed it back off her gem. "Steven, that's sweet but gems don't need-"

"I know. I-" He blushed. "I thought you could use it if you wanted to sleep." Pearl blinked, and Steven pulled it back over her gem. "I thought it might help with your projections, if you didn't want people seeing them. Go on, try it out."

Pearl wasn't sure, but he seemed so earnest. "Alright then." She focused, and under the hat her gem glowed, but the light was contained. Steven leaned forward, trying to listen as he heard something, but the sound was too muffled to make out.

"It works!" He raised his arms in delight, distracting Pearl. "See?"

"Oh, that's nice." Pearl pulled the hat back and the light projected into the air above them, forming a blue hologram of Pearl.

"Do You Wish To Engage In-" Steven froze as it spoke, the hairs on the back of his neck prickling as his fight or flight mode activated ready to bubble himself but Pearl casually waved the hologram away.

"Well, thank you Steven." She carefully put it away in a spare box, stacking it neatly in her pile.

Right on top of the chocolates.

The storm was getting worse. Even Pearl's reflexes couldn't keep them from landing the van in a deep snowdrift. The fuel was too low for heating so they took their chances outside, making their way on foot, occasionally catching glimpses of the lights of Beach City in the distance. After Steven fell into a third snowdrift, getting soaked through Pearl knew it was no use, and that they had to get home quickly or risk hypothermia. She could bubble Steven and send him back to the temple, but Greg...

"Steven, do you think you can float yourself and Greg?" she asked.

"I-I can t-t-t-try," Steven stuttered, shivering furiously. Pearl looked out over the edge of the road, holding up a finger, muttering about wind-speed and air resistance.

"Pearl, what are you doing?" Greg said as Steven grabbed hold of him. Pearl turned and scooped the two of them up, holding them above her head.

"Shortcut," she grunted. "You need to get home and warm." She shifted, taking a few steps and ensuring she had a firm base, burying her feet into a snow drift.

"Wait, what about you?"

"I'll catch you up, don't worry about me."

"Um Pearl," Greg had made the mistake of looking the other way, catching a particularly clear view of the drop towards Beach City "It's a long way down."

She paid him no heed, drawing back and throwing them with all her force, sending them yelling into the darkening sky. She tried to follow their flight as best she could, but lost sight of them in the haze, one last glint off a pink bubble hinting through the snow, tracking their descent to safety. She'd done all she could.

She looked around, and tried shifting her feet, but they had become buried in the snow. She grumbled and started working to free herself. Lights flared through the darkness, and a loud horn blared at her. The sound of scraping ice approached with the vehicle and the snowplow drove through, sending a splatter of dark ice over Pearl. She cursed, and kept trying to dig herself out. The plough slowed, but gravity and ice took it onwards and it disappeared out of sight. It mattered little. Pearl had extracted one foot, and was trying to get the other out when the snow shifted, just enough for her to hop out.

The snow shifted again, pulling her backwards towards the cliff. She lunged forwards but it was already slipping out from underneath her, toppling her over, the inexorable momentum pouring away from her reaching arms and dragging her backwards over the edge with a muffled roar.

She was falling. For a moment the world around her stilled, snow and ice hanging mid-air, tumbling over with the snowflakes. Then she landed, burying face first into a deep snowdrift, tonnes of snow and ice piling on top of her. Eventually the avalanche stopped, and Pearl wriggled to try to free herself but found herself stuck, pinned down by the sheer weight of the ice and snow, layer upon layer compacted around her and sealing her in. There was little more she could do, she realised, than wait here for it to melt. At least Steven and Greg were safe. She closed her eyes.

Amethyst pulled Steven away from the blinds and plonked him down by the fire. The snow came even thicker now, and had started building up on the sand outside.

"But she should be back by now," he argued. "What if something happened to her?"

"She's probably just staying with the van," Amethyst explained, throwing herself across the couch. She looked up. Oh no. Steven was giving her 'the eyes'.

"We have to go find her!" Steven insisted.

"Easy there kiddo," Greg stopped Steven, "you're not going out in that again. It's too dangerous. Besides Pearl can look after herself. I'm sure she'll be fine."

"But what if she was attacked by a corruption, and she got poofed!" He turned his persuasion on to Garnet.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to go and look." Steven let out a little thank you noise. "Amethyst."

"Right." Amethyst turned to wave at Steven. "Laters."

Garnet moved her hand, sending the light from her gem over the snowdrifts at the side of the road.

"She's not at the van," Amethyst huffed into view in cat form, climbed on top of the snow and jumped onto Garnet's hair, "and there's no sign of her on the road."

"This is where they were."

"How can you tell?"

"High point. She would have wanted to get them as far as she could." Garnet reached up and launched Amethyst over the edge. She shifted into a bird and quickly caught herself.

"Hey!"

"Take a look around, tell me if you can see her."

Amethyst grumbled but quickly dove out of the way, searching as she got buffeted by the winds. She battled her way back up. "I think I found something!" She dropped away again and Garnet peered over the edge. Surely enough a faint light gleamed under the snow at the bottom of the cliffs.

Amethyst was already digging as Garnet landed beside her, shifting back to her form. "We need to be careful." Garnet stopped her for a moment, pointing up at the mounds of snow still perched above them.

They took turns, one watching whilst the other dug, and after nearly an hour of scraping through the snow and ice, they were finally able to pull Pearl out. Her gem kept flashing, broadcasting a bright light, but she didn't stir.

"Hey, what gives? Why isn't she waking up?" Amethyst looked over her, but apart from a few scrapes, she seemed fine.

"She's gone into hibernation," Garnet explained. "Us gems can use it to conserve energy until it's safe to come out again."

"Why didn't she just poof?" Amethyst moaned, and received a lazy snowball to her face for her troubles.

"Her gem would be lost amongst the snow. She did the right thing." Garnet picked Pearl up in her arms. "We should get her back home."

A quiet crackling roused Pearl and she stirred, finding herself laid out on the couch in the half darkness, noticing the warmth around her from the thick folds of the duvet and the fire that flickered away in the background with a red glow. The others were there, sleeping out on the floor around her. How long had she been here? Her hand flew to her head and felt the soft fold of a hat, snug and secure against her gem. She pulled it up, the gentle blue light falling onto her hand and she quickly turned it off, not wanting to disturb the others. She could remember falling in the snow; they must have found her. She craned her head. It was still snowing outside, quieter now for the occasional gust of wind.

A slight sound drew her attention towards her feet. Garnet was looking at her, watching. She squeezed Amethyst's shoulder, silently shushing the quartz as she stirred, pointing her up towards Pearl, who gave them a smile, and a little grateful blush in answer to a happy thumbs up.

She was fine, if a little tired, the chill leaving a remnant ache within her, but that was barely anything to a gem, a small price to pay for their safety. Pearl searched around, looking for- Garnet nodded to the floor below her and she leaned over to see.

Steven was there, tucked into the space. right underneath her next to Greg, sleeping safe and soundly in his sleeping bag. She felt herself yawning again, almost snapping herself off in familiar avoidance until her fingers closed around the thick wool of her beanie with a lurch in her heart. It was so quiet, and peaceful, and after a quick glance towards Garnet she leaned back, drawing the hat down once more, her eyes shutting as she let herself drift back to sleep.


End file.
